Refusal and acceptance
by autumn-leaf16
Summary: Zaizen Hikaru dream novel. Due to being on librarian duty whenever Zaizen comes in, Akiko OC slowly discovers more about Zaizen, just as he slowly starts to notices her.


Her shift in the school library happened to be on Tuesday, which was also the time that Zaizen Hikaru tended to be in the library. That was because the day the latest music magazine would arrive in the library on a Tuesday.

That was why she would usually find him sitting at a corner of the library with the magazine in front of him and a pair of headphones in his ears that she has never seen him put on or take off.

They were not in the same class or club, so she knew very little of him – the only things she have said to him was the standard line of a librarian: "Thank you" when he returned a book"; "this is due on so and so date" when he borrow a book, and the occasional "please turn your music down."

Akiko was bookish without isolating herself, so that was why she only saw Zaizen as someone who just happened to go to the library on the day that she had her shift.

Some of her friends liked him and she heard that he was a genius in tennis, as well as the most likely candidate of being the buchou of the tennis club next year. While Akiko could feel admiration at someone excelling in such a thing, as well as admitting that he was quite good looking, he was still no one really special.

As he was the only second year in the tennis regulars, he was rather popular with their peers. Upon discovering that he tended to go to the library on Tuesday, many would waylaid him there, although they would let him have the first half of his time to himself, least he decides to break this schedule.

As the first day passed, the numbers of girls who went to the library for him were growing in both size and frequency.

"Zaizen-kun, please accept this letter."

Akiko groaned inwardly to herself when she saw the girl: it was one of her classmates and she was rather arrogant, often showing off.

Zaizen sighed as he was just about to celebrate at the fact that he wasn't disturbed by anyone at all.

"No."

Akiko heard this word said to every letter or gift that was offered to him regardless of the circumstances. He did once get up to get some tissues for a girl that started to cry, but he still didn't take the letter that she begged him to take.

"Why not?" the girl in front of Zaizen demanded angrily, leaning forward to place her hands on the table. "I am just asking you to accept it! You don't even have to read it!"

Zaizen replied by pulling the magazine towards him before he shifted his seat back.

"What business is that of yours?" he said coldly.

"Because this is rude!" this was shouted out so loudly that Akiko decided that she had to go to them in order to prevent another person from accusing her of not doing her job.

"Shiraishi-buchou and Kenya-san receiving every gift and letter doesn't mean that I have to do the same. I can refuse it if I want to, and I do."

"ZAIZEN HIKARU YOU…"

"I am sorry but please keep quiet in the library." Akiko whispered and it seemed that her position gave her enough power as the offended girl gave Zaizen another glare before she stormed off.

"She sounds like a broken guitar." Zaizen muttered as he, much to Akiko's disbelief, took off his ear phones.

"What?" he demanded when he noticed that the librarian on duty was still standing beside him. "Do you want to give me something too?"

"As if." She said coldly. "Not every girl is in love with the tennis regulars."

Akiko was sure that she heard wrong, as he couldn't have said: "I am glad of that."

"I don't like lying." Zaizen suddenly said, pausing in his attempt of packing up. "And having to go through the trouble of lying is too bothersome.

"If I receive any gifts or letters like Shiraishi-buchou or Kenya-san, then I have to receive all the others, least someone thinks that I am showing any signs of liking someone."

Although his tone was still rather lazy, there was a slight seriousness in it.

* * *

It was not as if Zaizne refused a love letter for the very first time so Akiko was sure that there would still be girls arriving in the library on Tuesday.

But much to her surprise, there were none of his following admirer in the library during the next few weeks.

"What is it?" Zaizen asked her when she walked pass him with a stack of books she had to shelf. "You might as well ask it."

"I don't want to ask you anything." She hissed back.

It was not that she disliked him due to the way he treated his admirers by refusing all of their offerings, as she could understand his view although it was not something she would be experiencing anytime soon.

Since he pulled out both his head phones, she felt that he was finally looking at her, instead of just happening to glance at her direction. His gaze seemed very piercing- as if he was guessing the questions that she had been pondering about ever since he walked into the library.

"Then why do you keep on looking at me?" he reasoned simply.

"I am not…" she stopped partly because she didn't like lying either, but mostly due to the strange expression on her following second year's face.

His eyes seemed to be amused while his lips were curled into a rather good natured smile.

"I am a bit surprised that no one has come to find you." She admitted.

"This is because I found a really easy way to prevent them from bothering me."

His smile increased even more and maybe his good mood would have allowed him to share what it was about his situation that amused him so much himself if they were not interrupted.

"Buchou?"

Shiraishi Kuranosuke, the buchou of Shitenhouji's tennis club, stood a few paces away with his arms crossed, and even though his smile remained very gentle, both second years could sense a slightly dangerous expression in his eyes.

"You are the librarian right?" he asked Akiko and upon her nod, he smile and said: "I just need to talk with my kohai for a while. I apologise in advance if I get a bit too loud, which I might."

"That…that is alright, Shiraishi-senpai. I will leave you two alone." She quickly said as it was clear that he wanted her to do so.

Akiko was not a very nosy person, but she suddenly felt very curious, so she deliberately made her way to the nearest aisle and peered through the gaps between two particular shelves. She brought some books from that place to make it appears as if she happened to be there.

"Between you and Kintaoru I am never going to get any rest." Shiraishi began, his arms still crossed while his voice sounded a bit hard. "I just managed to prevent him from being made to clean the whole of his class room at our practice time for a whole week due to him accidentally breaking his desk. After I finally managed to get him off, I heard what you did."

"But I didn't do any thing." Zaizen protested.

"Did you or did you not make a declaration that you will only be interested in a girl who excels in tennis?"

"So?"

"Thanks to you the buchou of the female tennis club is pestered on a daily basis by your admirers who want to join the tennis club."

"What is so bad about that? The school is more likely to fond a club if there are more members."

"Most of these people, Zaizen, do not really care about tennis, and so the buchou of the female tennis club is forced to watch them treat tennis in a way that is almost insulting. Since the root of the problem is traced to you- who is in the male tennis club- she has been demanding me to do something." Shiraishi said, finally allowing his exasperation to be visible.

"So I have to solve it?"

"Aren't you the one who caused this? But you don't have to." Unlike Zaizen, Akiko couldn't realise that Shiraishi's sudden smile was a very dangerous sign. "I can just endure the other bothering me every day and listening to her lectures. But you will have to do what I would have been doing if I had the time."

"…which is?" Zaizne still muttered this out despite knowing that he really would not want to know the answer.

"Tutoring Kin-chan's English. Actually, isn't English your best subject?" Shiraishi said with a seemingly ignorance. "That is actually a really good idea!"

"Buchou, I will think of a solution before tomorrow, I swear."

* * *

She didn't really spend much time wondering about this incident although she was quite curious at how it would turn out, but her main concern was that it would not disrupt the peace in the library.

She also had other stuff to occupy her: such as her duty of buying the day's grocery. As her mother chooses to work part time, it was Akiko's duty to do the shopping and cooking on these days.

Her favourite store was the one beside a park, as seeing children playing in the park always made her feel really happy. Something that her friends often tease her about.

It was not that she wanted to have a kid as she was only in junior high school, but she would love to have a little sibling that she could take to the park and play with.

As she usually would, she took a seat on one of the empty benches.

"Higher! Higher!" a little boy demanded.

She always treasured the rare times her parents took her to the park and her favourite toy was the swing, as her parents would always push her. It was the swing that let them play with her instead of just watching her from the bench.

"Zai…Zaizen-kun?"

The person who was smiling as he pushed the boy on the swing was no other then the one who always sat in his corner in the library and treated the world with a sense of detachment due to the absence of a smile in both his eyes and lips.

"Hanada-kun, right?" he began, only to be interrupted by the little boy's demand that was accompanied by a pull at his sleeves.

"Don't be rude." Zaizen hissed rather sternly before he turned to smile apologetically at her. "I am sorry, he is a bit spoilt by all of us in the house so he tend to demand being in the centre of attention."

"I understand, younger brothers are often like that." Her words trailed off as Zaizen's expression seemed to harden, which made her feel rather awkward.

"Hanada-kun, this is not my younger brother because I only have an elder brother." Zaizen finally said. "This is my nephew."

Saying so, he resumed pushing the swing.

"But only child are really spoilt as well!" Akiko suddenly yelled out, as she did not want to offend him. "I am an only child!"

Zaizen was to pause once more and this time his expression was one of surprise. He then, much to Akiko's surprise, started to laugh.

"Well, I probably am spoiled." He told her with a genuine smile. "Not only am I the younger son, there is a large gap between my brother and I."

The young boy muttered something about wanting to be on the slide instead and he jumped away.

"My sister-in-law asked me to come here and play with him in the park as he was throwing a tantrum in the super market." Zaizen explained as he took a seat beside his following school mate.

"That is really nice of you, Zaizen-kun." She told him sincerely.

"Well, it is the least I can do. But this park is quite a nice place."

"I agree." Akiko said. "I always see so many mothers playing with their kid when I come here.

"You come here often?"

"I tend to buy our groceries here." She said as she gestured to the bags between them. "So I guess I come here about three days a week."

"Hikaru-kun! Hikaru-kun!" they were interrupted by Zaizen's sister-in-law, who was holding onto a large bag of shopping as well as her son. "I'm finished."

"I met one of my friends from school so I am going to walk her home first as her bags are really heavy." Zaizen said as he picked up Akiko's bags.

"But Zaizen-kun…"

"Oh, I understand perfectly." His sister-in-law said with a grin as she waved them farewell.

"Zaizen-kun, I…" Akiko began nervously, not sure what she should do, as well as being extremely surprised. She didn't know what he was like in class as they weren't in the same class, but he usually didn't even bother to put back any spare magazines that someone left on the table he was sitting on, even if they were shelved right beside the magazines he would read and put back.

"I wasn't joking." Zaizen interrupted her.

"But Zaizen-kun, most people will see this as the same as you receiving a letter or gift." She pointed out, her hands suddenly a little bit sweaty.

"I know." He told her before he turned away. "You better tell me which way to go because I have no idea at all."

* * *

The fact that they walked in silence shouldn't really be a surprise because the girl was trying to understand what the boy meant while the boy was making his final decision.

"Zaizen-kun, this is where I live." Akiko began, a bit relieved, yet a bit sorry because she felt that she was seeing him in a way that those outside his family could not really see.

"You actually heard the conversation I had with Shiraishi-buchou, didn't you?" he said, still holding onto her bags.

"I did." She admitted.

"What about going out with me then?" I am not joking." He added quickly as she was going to say something. "And you are the only one I will ask this of so don't think that I am just randomly picking a girl."

"Do you like me then?" she examined out in surprise, as there certainly were no indication.

"Sort of." He muttered out. "I am really curious about you and when I discovered that you are buying grocery for your family…I always like a girl who is like that, who thinks of their family instead of just herself. That is why I decided to solve my problem by doing something that I would probably have done anyway.

"I think…I think I will be able to like you."

Akiko spent sometime looking at him before she nodded. "I will. I initially thought that you are a really cold person, but after seeing you looking after your nephew, I think you are actually a really nice person."

Their relationship became open the very next day as they arrived at school at the same time with him carrying her school bag. Things were confirmed even more when he would help her to do her duties in the library while she would go and wait for his tennis practice to finish in order for them to go to the supermarket together.

Zaizen's sudden announcement surprised many but his senpai were happy for him as it was clear that he really cared for Hanada Akiko. In his unguarded moments, they could see him looking at his girlfriend with a very rare smile on his face

* * *

_**Author's Note: I wrote this story in February in 2008 but I only ended up typing it up a whole year later. Well, it is a Zaizen dream novel, the second proper dream novel I have done (the first one is Kenya) as my Shiraishi one didn't work. Apparently class mates are more likely use –kun, even for girls.**_

_**according to 40.5, Zaizen has a nephew and he likes a girl who is family orientated.**_


End file.
